Lickitung Line/XY
Lickitung can be found as an uncommon encounter in Victory Road's cave. Such a good Pokemon... found at such an unfortunate position in the game. Lickilicky comes to the Kalos region greatly benefiting from the unlimited TMs introduced in the last generation. With some pretty darn good all-around stats in conjunction with this vast movepool, Licklicky seems pretty solid, right? Well, Lickitung can only be found in the very last area of the game, where you'll already have a prepared team. Furthermore, Lickilicky also has to compete with its biggest rival, Snorlax, which is catchable much earlier in the game as a guaranteed encounter. Still, if you're in desperate need for a teammate before the League, Lickilicky can definitely fill up just about any team slot. Important Matchups * Rival (Victory Road): Meowstic's Psychic is stuck in 5HKO range, while a full-powered Return or a Shadow Ball will have a chance to 2HKO, making it fairly safe to deal with. A physically-oriented Lickilicky will have no trouble dealing with Jolteon, with Return and Earthquake both 2HKOing, although a special attacker may have to sit out against it, as your elemental attacks are stuck in 4HKOs, while its Discharge is a 4HKO as well. Flareon can be defeated with any Lickitung set, since Earthquake, Return, and Surf all 2HKO it, while its Lava Plume can only 5HKO provided it doesn't burn. Thunderbolt and Return at full power will 3HKO Vaporeon, while it can only 4HKO you with Muddy Water - you can beat it, but it does outspeed, so be careful and watch out for accuracy cuts. Ice Beam will 2HKO Altaria for a special-attacking Lickilicky, and for physical attackers, Return does outdamage Rock Slide, being a 3HKO. Altaria, meanwhile, can only 5HKO at best with Dragon Pulse, so go wild on it. If Lickilicky is a physical attacker, Absol is safe to battle, since a full-powered Return is a 2HKO, while it cannot OHKO you even with a Swords Dance-boosted critical Night Slash. Special Attackers may want to leave Absol to something else, however - their attacks only slightly break 3HKO range. Physical attackers can fight Delphox - your Earthquake 2HKOs it, while Delphox's STAB attacks only 3HKO Lickilicky - but special attackers must stay back, since your elemental beams are stuck at 3HKO range as well, and Delphox outspeeds. Both Thunderbolt and Return can 2HKO Greninja, while it can only 4HKO using Dark Pulse, making it a fairly safe battle as long as you're healed up. You must avoid Chesnaught, as its Brick Break 2HKOs Licklicky, while you cannot OHKO it with any of your attacks. * Elite Four Wikstrom (Pokémon League, Ironworks Chamber, Steel-type): Staller-oriented Lickilickies cannot poison Wikstrom's Steel-types, and should stay away from this fight. Offensive-oriented ones, however, will have some fun here. Klefki is 2HKOed by either Earthquake or Flamethrower, while its Flash Cannon is stuck at 5HKO range. Just be careful, as it can use Torment to possibly block your attack. Specially-oriented Lickilicky can fight Scizor, which is OHKOed by Flamethrower, but physical sets must stay away from it. The reverse is true of Probopass, which is 2HKOed by a physical Lickilicky's Earthquake, but is able to endure several Flamethrower attacks. You cannot defeat Aegislash - it outspeeds, its Sacred Sword 2HKOs, and your Earthquake is stuck at a maximum of a 2HKO, even if you hit it in Blade Forme. * Elite Four Malva (Pokémon League, Blazing Chamber, Fire-type): Earthquake and Surf will both 2HKO Pyroar without too terribly much of a fight, but if it it leads with Noble Roar, let someone else deal with it. Surf and Earthquake will also deal with Torkoal, with Surf 2HKOing and Earthquake 3HKOing, although physical attackers may suffer if Torkoal decides to use Curse. Similarly, Surf and Earthquake will also 2HKO Chandelure, but a special attacker with Surf has a 2% chance of missing the 2HKO - which would be bad, since Chandelure's Flamethrower will 3HKO - and can also be nerfed with Chandelure's Confide. Talonflame will be quickly eliminated with Rock Slide, and Surf is still a solid 2HKO, while Talonflame's strongest attacks are stuck at 3HKO range. * Elite Four Drasna (Pokémon League, Dragonmark Chamber, Dragon-type): Ice Beam 3HKOs Dragalge, and Earthquake will 2HKO it, while it can only 4HKO with Sludge Bomb - the only real risk is being poisoned by its attacks, since Earthquake and Ice Beam don't make contact and won't trigger its Poison Point. Leave Druddigon to someone else, as Revenge 2HKOs Lickilicky, while your Ice Beam will only 3HKO. Only special attackers should attempt to fight the Altaria, as your Ice Beam will safely 2HKO it, while physical attackers will be greatly crippled by the massive defense boosts it can create with its Cotton Guard. Ice Beam will 2HKO Noivern and even have a chance at an OHKO, but be careful, since Super Fang will ignore Licklicky's fantastic bulk and give Noivern the ability to 3HKO. For this reason, physical attackers should avoid Noivern, as your Return is only a 3HKO, and Noivern outspeeds. * Elite Four Siebold (Pokémon League, Flood Chamber, Water-type): Avoid Clawitzer, which will 2HKO you with its Aura Sphere. Physical attackers should avoid Gyarados, who has Intimidate and will make dealing with it very difficult, while special attackers can 2HKO it with Thunderbolt before it can deal sufficient damage. Starmie can be fought by either a physical or a special attacker, with Thunderbolt being a guaranteed 2HKO and Return having a chance to 2HKO, but note that Starmie can set up Light Screen to neuter Thunderbolt's effectiveness, and that Starmie's STAB attacks will 4HKO Lickilicky. Special-oriented Lickilicky should avoid Barbaracle, which can 2HKO with Cross Chop, although physical-oriented ones with Power Whip can safely OHKO it. * Champion Diantha (Pokémon League, Radiant Chamber): Your Thunderbolt may 2HKO Hawlucha, but its Flying Press 2HKOs Lickilicky back, so keep back from it. You do have a chance to defeat Tyrantrum - if your Ice Beam has a high damage roll and it uses Head Smash, you will be able to defeat it in one turn thanks to its recoil. Otherwise, keep Lickilicky away from it, as Head Smash will 2HKO if it survives. Special attackers cannot fight Aurorus, but physical attackers can spam Brick Break in order to nullify its screen setup and cause super-effective damage. Special-attacking Lickilicky will be able to stop Gourgeist in its tracks with Ice Beam or Flamethrower while still being immune to its Trick-or-Treat strategy, but physical attackers cannot deal enough damage before Gourgeist's Seed Bomb overwhelms Lickilicky. Under normal circumstances, Lickilicky should avoid facing Goodra, who 2HKOs with Focus Blast. However, if Diantha did use Trick-or-Treat on a physical Lickilicky, it can evade damage from Focus Blast and 3HKO with Return. Special attackers should still stay back, since Ice Beam does very little against Goodra's special bulk. Against Mega Gardevoir, it's a very close fight, but Licklicky just barely loses it - both your Return and its Moonblast are 2HKOs, but Gardevoir outspeeds, so keep away from this fight. * Post-Game: Y'know, I didn't really do the post-game, and I don't know anybody who still Nuzlockes post-game content. Moves A wild-caught Lickitung will know Refresh, Screech, Power Whip, and Wring Out. Of these four moves, only Power Whip has any real use, and only on a fully physical-attacking set. Once you have evolved into Lickilicky, Gyro Ball comes at level 61, and with Lickilicky's low speed, it's pretty good. In terms of tutors, there's only the Move Relearner, and the only move you'll ever want to relearn is Rollout, which is necessary for evolving into Lickilicky - just make sure that you evolve before level 61, or you will miss Gyro Ball. Lickilicky's real potential comes with its TM capabilities, which are as good as it usually is. For a physical attacking set, Lickilicky can learn Return for STAB, although make sure you boost its friendship before taking on the League for best effect. If you don't have time to befriend your Lickitung, Strength works as well, having a fairly-solid 80 base power. Lickilicky also learns Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Brick Break for some solid high-power coverage. Lickilicky also has a very usable Special Attack, whose base stat is only five points lower than its Attack. Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Surf create a moveset that can cause at least neutral damage on any Pokemon you encounter, but you may opt to replace the three elemental beams with Blizzard, Thunder, and Fire Blast, respectively, in order to secure more KOs. Shadow Ball is another option on a special attacking set, being able to strike Ghost-types which Lickilicky otherwise couldn't. Lickilicky can also run a bulkier stall set using its great bulk, with access to Toxic, Protect, and Substitute in order to slowly lull foes into submission. Recommended movesets: * Physical: Return/Strength, Earthquake, Brick Break, Gyro Ball/Power Whip/Rock Slide * Special: Ice Beam/Blizzard, Thunderbolt/Thunder, Flamethrower/Fire Blast, Surf/Shadow Ball * Staller: Toxic, Protect, Substitute, any one attacking move Recommended Teammates * Leech Seed users: Any Lickilicky set can benefit from constant health regeneration, and stall-oriented ones can stack an ally's Leech Seed with its own Toxic attack to quickly dispatch of enemy Pokemon. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Chesnaught, Venusaur, Ferrothorn, Exeggutor, Gourgeist, Trevenant * Poison-types: Poison-type Pokemon are generally tough enough to take the few Fighting-type attacks that Lickilicky cannot deal with, and they are also able to go up against Mega Gardevoir in the final battle, which Lickilicky otherwise loses. In turn, Lickilicky can use Flamethrower or Earthquake to take out Steel-type Pokemon that Poison-types cannot take on, including the majority of Wikstrom's party. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Roserade, Venusaur, Swalot, Scolipede, Toxicroak, Crobat, Tentacruel, Dragalge, Drapion, Gengar, Amoonguss, Garbodor Other Lickitung's stats Lickilicky's stats * What Nature do I want? Lickitung uses all of its stats except for Speed, so a Speed-reducing nature would be for the best. A nature that reduces either of its attacking stats works as well, although a nature like that will force Lickilicky into either a physical or a special-attacking role, rather than giving it the flexibility to choose. * What Ability do I want? Own Tempo is much better than Oblivious - nothing in the end-game relies on Attract, while Own Tempo can stop Malva's Chandelure's Confuse Ray, if nothing else. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? You're already right before the Pokemon League - use a Heart Scale, relearn Rollout, and evolve as soon as you catch Lickitung. * How good is the Lickitung line in a Nuzlocke? The phrase "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" perfectly describes Licklicky here. The best pink blob is capable of fitting rather snugly into different team archetypes, picking up many 3 and 2HKOs, but may still be outclassed by other team options which just flat-out hit stronger. Furthermore, Lickitung is only attainable in the worst possible area to catch a Pokemon: Victory Road. By the time you reach it, you will likely already have your team fully built and prepared unless you just happened to suffer any losses during Wulfric's Gym. Regardless of these gaping flaws, Lickilicky fits safely into any party that has an open slot, and performs very well in each of the League fights. * Weaknesses: Fighting * Resistances: None * Immunities: Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon Category:X/Y Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses